Heart Disease
03 Aug After Angioplasty: Quit Smoking, Live Longer
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. R.T. van Domburg Clinical epidemiologist, Associate Professor Erasmus Medical Center Department of Cardiology Ba561 ‘s-Gravendijkwal 230 3015 CE Rotterdam MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of your study? Answer: We collected data from the first patients who underwent coronary angioplasty in the early 1980s and followed them for 25 to 30 years. We found that patients who were able to quit smoking in the year following their PCI lived on average more than two years longer than those who continued to smoke.31 Jul PET/MRI : A Feasible Modality for Cardiac Imaging
Hybrid PET/MR Imaging of the Heart: Feasibility and Initial Results Felix Nensa, MD Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Hufelandstrasse 55, 45147 Essen, Germany; MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Nensa: Cardiac positron emission tomography (PET)/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with fluorine 18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) turned out to be feasible with an integrated whole-body 3-Tesla PET/MRI system. Despite the presence of a PET detector in the magnetic field of the MR imaging unit, high-quality cardiac MR images were acquired. PET images originating from a PET/CT and the PET/MR scanner showed very good visual agreement and no statistical significant difference of the mean was found in standardized uptake values, however, variance was considerable. In patients with myocardial infarction, PET and MR images were in good concordance regarding both, cine imaging and late gadolinium-enhanced imaging.27 Jul Kidney Stones : Marker of Increased Heart Disease Risk in Women?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with Dr. Pietro Manuel Ferraro
Division of Nephrology–Renal Program, Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, Columbus-Gemelli Hospital, Rome, Italy
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Ferraro: We analyzed three large cohorts over time to see if those with prevalent or incident kidney stones might have a higher risk of developing coronary heart disease (fatal or non fatal myocardial infarction or the need for coronary revascularization). The cohorts consisted of over 200,000 participants without any prior history of coronary heart disease. After a median follow-up of over 8 years, we observed that women affected with stones seem to have a greater risk of developing coronary heart disease independent of a number of other known cardiovascular risk factors such as diabetes or high blood pressure. We did not observe a significant association among men.
24 Jul Transthoracic Echocardiograms: Most Lead to No Appreciable Change in Patient Care
Posted at 22:17h
in Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, Heart Disease, JAMA, Radiology, UT Southwestern
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Susan Matulevicius, MD, MSCS
Department of Medicine, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Matulevicius: In our cohort of 535 transthoracic echocardiograms performed at a single academic medical center, we found that the majority (92%) of echocardiograms were appropriate by the 2011 Appropriate Use Criteria; however, only 1 in 3 echocardiograms lead to an active change in patient care while 1 in 5 resulted in no appreciable change in patient care.
18 Jul Pre-Term Deliveries Associated with Future Risk of Cardiovascular Events
MedicalResearch.com Interview with Prof. Eyal Sheiner MD PhD Senior Obstetrician
Soroka Medical Center, Israel
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Sheiner: The study was aimed to investigate whether a history of preterm delivery (PTD) poses a risk for subsequent maternal long-term cardiovascular morbidity. During the study period 47,908 women met the inclusion criteria; 12.5% (n=5992) patients delivered preterm. During a follow-up period of more than ten years, patients with PTD had higher rates of simple as well as complex cardiovascular events and higher rate of total cardiovascular related hospitalizations. A linear association was found between the number of previous PTD and future risk for cardiovascular hospitalizations (5.5% for two or more PTD, 5.0% for one PTD vs. 3.5% in the comparison group; P<0.001). The association remained significant for spontaneous vs. induced PTD and for early (<34 weeks) as well as late (34-36+6 weeks) PTD. In a Cox proportional hazards model that adjusted for pregnancy confounders such as labor induction, diabetes mellitus, preeclampsia and obesity, PTD was independently associated with cardiovascular hospitalizations (adjusted HR 1.4, 95% CI 1.2-1.6).18 Jul PCI – Angioplasty: Monitoring Risk Using CK-MB
Interview with: Dr Nicholas D Gollop BSc (Hons) MB BCh
Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital,
Norwich, NR4 7UY
Norfolk, United Kingdom
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
We completed a best evidence topic in interventional cardiac surgery to investigate the significance of elevated markers of cardiac damage following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).
We compared the clinical and prognostic relevance of the elevation of creatinine kinase-myocardial band (CK-MB) and cardiac troponin (cTn) levels during peri-procedural period and post-procedural period, respectively, following an emergency or elective PCI.
We found in excess of 390 papers after a systematic literature search, of which 10 represented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. From the best evidence available we showed that the monitoring of cardiac biomarkers following PCI can provide important clinical information about the health of the myocardium, as well as prognostic information on short to mid-term outcomes of mortality up to 3 years.
17 Jul Aortic Dissection Repair: Does the Lunar Cycle Affect Outcomes?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with Dr. Frank Sellke, MD Chief of cardiothoracic surgery and co-director of the Cardiovascular Institute at Rhode Island, The Miriam and Newport hospitals MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Sellke: The main findings of the study are that outcomes of repair of an ascending aortic dissection are improved under a full moon compared to other phases of the moon. This was with regard to both mortality and length of hospital stay. Interestingly, there was no correlation with season of the year.11 Jul BNP and Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Andrew Brenyo MD Electrophysiologist Greenville University Health System Greenville SC MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Brenyo: We found that BNP values at the time of CRT implant and during follow up predict response to CRT and subsequent risk of heart failure admission and death. BNP at implant and at subsequent times was strongly correlated with echocardiographic response to CRT-D along with predicting clinical outcome.09 Jul Insulin Resistance and Cardiorespiratory Fitness : Ethnic Differences
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Nazim Ghouri MBChB, MRCP UK Specialty Registrar (Diabetes/Endocrinology/GIM) and Honorary Clinical Lecturer Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences BHF Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Centre University of Glasgow Glasgow G12 8TA Lower cardiorespiratory fitness contributes to increased insulin resistance and fasting glycaemia in middle-aged South Asian compared with European men living in the UK MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: In this study we aimed to determine the extent to which increased insulin resistance and blood sugar levels in South Asian men, compared to white European men, living in the UK, was due to lower fitness and physical activity levels. We studied 100 South Asian and 100 European men aged 40-70 years living in Scotland without diagnosed diabetes and measured their blood sugar levels, insulin resistance and other risk factors. The men also undertook a treadmill exercise test to determine how much oxygen their bodies were able to use during intense exercise – a key measure of physical fitness, wore accelerometers for a week to assess their physical activity levels, and had a detailed assessment of their body size and composition. Statistical modeling was then used to determine the extent to which body size and composition, fitness and physical activity variables explained differences in insulin resistance and blood sugar between South Asians and Europeans. The results suggested that lower fitness, together with greater body fat in South Asians, explained over 80 per cent of their increased insulin resistance compared to white men with Low fitness being the single most important factor associated with the increased insulin resistance and blood sugar levels in middle-aged South Asian compared to European men living in the UK.08 Jul Lung Cancer Screening CT Scans Can Predict Future Cardiovascular Events
Posted at 12:39h
in Author Interviews, Cancer Research, CT Scanning, Heart Disease, JACC, Lung Cancer, Medical Imaging
Dr. Pim A. de Jong,
Department of Radiology
University Medical Center Utrecht,
Heidelberglaan 100, E.01.132, 3508GA
Utrecht, the Netherlands.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. de Jong: The main findings of the study is that lung cancer screening CT scans can predict future cardiovascular events.
MedicalResearch.com: Where any of the findings unexpected?
Dr. de Jong: The unexpected aspect is that the CT scans were not-ECG gated, but even these non-gated scans were good enough to quantify arterial calcifications and predict risk.
03 Jul Coronary Heart Disease : What Correlates with Repeat Lipid Testing?
Posted at 12:43h
in Author Interviews, Baylor College of Medicine Houston, Cost of Health Care, Heart Disease, JAMA
MedicalResearch.com Interview with Salim S. Virani, MD, PhD
Health Policy and Quality Program, Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center Health Services Research and Development Center of Excellence, and Section of Health Services Research, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine,
Section of Cardiovascular Research, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, and Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention, Methodist DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center, Houston, Texas
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Virani: The main findings of the study are that despite having cholesterol levels at goal (LDL cholesterol <100 mg/dL), about one-third of patients (9200 out of 27947) with coronary heart disease had repeat cholesterol testing in 11 months from their last lipid panel. As expected, no intervention was performed as a response to these lipid panels. Collectively, 12686 additional lipid panels were performed in these patients. Among 13,114 patients who met the optional treatment target of LDL-C<70 mg/dL, repeat lipid testing was performed in 8,177 (62.3% of those with LDL-C<70) during 11 months of follow-up.
Patients with a history of diabetes mellitus (odds ratio [OR], 1.16; 95% CI, 1.10-1.22), a history of hypertension (OR, 1.21; 95%CI, 1.13-1.30), higher illness burden (OR, 1.39; 95%CI, 1.23-1.57), and more frequent primary care visits (OR, 1.32; 95%CI, 1.25-1.39) were more likely to undergo repeat testing, whereas patients receiving care at a teaching facility (OR, 0.74; 95%CI, 0.69-0.80) or from a physician provider (OR, 0.93; 95%CI, 0.88-0.98) and those with a medication possession ratio of 0.8 or higher (OR, 0.75; 95%CI, 0.71-0.80) were less likely to undergo repeat testing.
25 Jun CHF: Contraindicated Initiation of β-Blocker Therapy in Patients Hospitalized for Heart Failure
MedicalResearch.com Interview with Dr. Kumar Dharmarajan MD MBA
Yale School of Medicine
Center for Outcomes Research & Evaluation (CORE)Contraindicated Initiation of β-Blocker Therapy in Patients Hospitalized for Heart Failure
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
We found that among a large contemporary cohort of heart failure hospitalizations, beta blockers are frequently started in patients with markers of clinical instability such as residence in an intensive care unit (ICU), volume overload requiring intravenous diuresis, and poor cardiac output requiring intravenous inotropes. Approximately 40% of patients in whom a beta blocker is started has at least one of these three potential contraindications to treatment.
This finding is concerning, as recent performance measures for heart failure recommend that a beta blocker be started during hospitalization for heart failure among patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction. However, these performance measures also state that persons in whom a beta blocker is started "should not be hospitalized in an ICU, should have no or minimal evidence of fluid overload or volume depletion, and should not have required recent treatment with an intravenous positive inotropic agent."
Moving forward, we are concerned that the unselective application of the new performance measure may lead to the further use of beta blocker therapy in patients at higher risk for adverse consequences of therapy.
04 Jun Lifestyle Risks, Cardiovascular Calcium, Events and Mortality
MedicalResearch.com eInterview with: Haitham Ahmed, MD, MPH The Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease Johns Hopkins Hospital MedicalResearch.com: What were the main findings of the study? Dr. Ahmed: Everyone knows that healthy lifestyle habits are major factors that protect you from heart disease. What we don’t know is which habits are most important, and how exactly these habits prevent disease progression along the causal biological pathway over years and years. So we followed 6,200 men and women of various ethnic backgrounds from 6 university locations across the US. We looked at their eating habits, exercise, weight, and smoking history. We did CT scans on them at the start of the study and then a few years later (mean 3 years) and found that healthier people had lower calcium deposition in their coronaries. We then kept following them and found that these same healthy people had a trend towards less cardiovascular events. We then kept following them further and found that these same healthy people died less, by an 80% lower rate, compared to people that were unhealthy, which was incredible. So what we took away from this is that you have enormous power in changing your risk of atherosclerosis, heart disease, and death by changing your lifestyle behaviors.23 May Aggressive Fluid, Sodium Restriction in Acute Decompensated Heart Failure – Is it Necessary?
MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Luis Beck-da-Silva, MD, ScD Cardiology Division, Heart Failure Clinic Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre Rua Ramiro Barcelos, 2350 Sala 2060 Porto Alegre, RS 90035-903, Brazil MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: The actual take home message is that fluid and sodium restriction may not be of any benefit...
03 May Naturopathic medicine for the prevention of cardiovascular disease: a randomized clinical trial
Posted at 23:24h
in Heart Disease
| MedicalResearch.com eInterview with: Dugald Seely ND, MSc, FABNO Founder & Executive Director; Ottawa Integrative Cancer Centre Director; Research & Clinical Epidemiology; Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine Affiliate Investigator; Ottawa Hospital Research Institute 29 Bayswater Ave Ottawa, ON, K1Y 2E5 www.oicc.ca |
01 May Predictors of Survival from Perioperative Cardiopulmonary Arrests: A Retrospective Analysis of 2,524 Events from the Get With The Guidelines-Resuscitation Registry
MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Satya Krishna Ramachandran MD FRCA Director, Quality Assurance Department of Anesthesiology University of Michigan MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: Background: A cardiac arrest is a life-threatening condition where the heart has stopped beating. This remains one of the biggest fears of patients undergoing anesthesia and surgery. This is a...
16 Apr Prevalence of a Healthy Lifestyle Among Individuals With Cardiovascular Disease in High-, Middle- and Low-Income CountriesThe Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) Study
Posted at 22:00h
in Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Heart Disease, JAMA, Smoking, Tobacco Research
MedicalResearch.com Author Interview with Dr. Koon Teo, MB, PhD
Population Health Research Institute, Hamilton Health Sciences,
McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Teo: In this study we examined the prevalence of smoking cessation or avoidance, eating a healthy diet and undertaking regular physical activities in nearly 8000 individuals who had previously experienced a coronary heart disease event or stroke, on average 5 years after their events. The individuals were recruited from over 600 communities in 17 countries with varying incomes and economic development. We found that although these healthy lifestyle activities could reduce the risk of further heart or stroke events, about one fifth of individuals continued to smoke, only one third undertook regular leisure or work related physical activities and about two fifths ate a healthy diet.
26 Jan NIH launches trials to evaluate CPR and drugs after sudden cardiac arrest
The National Institutes of Health has launched two multi-site clinical trials to evaluate treatments for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. One will compare continuous chest compressions (CCC) combined with pause- free rescue breathing to standard cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), which includes a combination of chest compressions and pauses for rescue breathing. The other...
26 Oct Aspirin Desensitization: for Patients with Aspirin & NSAID Allergies; CV Disease
Released: 10/10/2011 9:00 AM Source: Thomas Jefferson University Newswise — (PHILADELPHIA) – Beth Moore can now keep up with her children. The suburban Philadelphia mother of two had suffered from allergies and chronic sinusitis since her teens. With age her symptoms became more severe, turning into bronchitis and eventually asthma, diminishing her...